Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Tri no likey Sven

Announcer: The topic that keeps coming up is that of the imminent arrival of Sven Goran Eriksson, and voices continue to be raised, above all those of the veteran international players. They all follow the same path.

Osorio: "Hopefully, hopefully, the directors tomorrow will begin to think about what Mexican soccer needs, especially the players on the national team. It's not a question of bringing in the best coach, for me. Let them bring the best coach, but if he knows nothing about Mexican soccer, he starts at zero."

Announcer: The impression gained from Osorio and Galindo is that it would be best to stick with the work by Chucho Ramirez. In addition, they didn't lose an opportunity to send a message to the directors of Mexican soccer.

Galindo: "It would be great if they would listen to the players, but we know it's not going to be like that. The directors will make the decision and, well, we'll follow orders. In the end, those who play and represent a country are the players.

Announcer: It's clear that the veteran players don't agree with bringing in a coach who doesn't understand the Mexican style of soccer, such as Sven Goran Eriksson. The players were asked about meeting with the directors to explain their point of view. To which Osorio responded, "That sort of thing doesn't happen in our soccer."

I am starting to feel that a foreign coach is not necessarily the answer to any country's problems. Especially if they came in without any prior knowledge of how football is played in that country or continent. Do I think that with Sven as coach Mexico will now be a top 5 football country? Do I think with a foreign coach the US will be a top 10 football country? Probably not. You can only go as far as the players that bring you. Mexico and the US as of yet, have not developed the "game changers".

I live in Argentina right now and I am just amazed how many quality players this country produces. If you look at it by position it truly is amazing..10s you have Riquelme, Gallardo, Ortega,D'Alessandro, Romagnoli,Insua,Aimar..5s..you have Mascherano,Benega,Gago,Battaglia,..

Yet, Argentine is a poor country and not as big as Mexico or the US..so how do they keep developing world class players..and other countries don't..

"Yet, Argentine is a poor country and not as big as Mexico or the US..so how do they keep developing world class players..and other countries don't.."

Yep interesting point. In my ECON 101 books it says that richer nations win more gold medals than the poorer nations, the exception being some communist countries. Anyway, I wonder why in the futbol/football/soccer world it is different.

The Olympics is different because richer countries can throw money at sports that most countries either just don't care about or just don't have the money and/or population to develop a large diverse athletic pool as richer countries do.

Argentina wasn't always so poor, so they had a way better infrastructure for player development from like 1900 until the 60s when Mexico caught up (at least in facilities).

Plus, Mexico was in shambles after the revolution. They didn't have a pro league until the 40s or something like that. It wasn't even the most popular sport.

I've often wondered if that is why Mexican crowds are so sedate compared others in Latin America (Since the league grew up relatively isolated, notice they've gotten better since they started playing CONMEBOL nations).But then, we also don't have as much violence on the stands...so is that such a bad thing?

But look at the relative growth of each country. Mexico was way poorer than Argentina until later in the 20th century when it's economy boomed. It's stalled since then...but then...so has everyone except Chile.

Mexico has definitely closed the gap on Argentina. Which is ironic since they seem to have Brazil's number but they seem to just not be able to beat Argentina. Although with their new kids...I wouldn't be surprised if that happens.

Argentina is bigger then Mexico, secondly i agree with some of the points been stated. National Countries should only be able to have their own national coaches, no foreigners becuase then whats the point. Its called the world cup right? Nation vs Nation. I can see why Mexican players are speaking out.They are very national, proud and stubborn.

Unlike kayaking or dressage and like basketball--more than basketball, probably--soccer is a great sport for people in poor countries to learn. If you can find a playing surface without landmines or objects to give you tetanus, all you need is a bundle of rags to use as a ball.

And once you have lot of people who understand the game, it'll perpetuate itself. (Mandarin may be a hard language to learn if you come to it late in life, but all you need when you're two are some people around you who speak it fluently and you'll pick it up handily.)

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Andrea, do you really think that Bradley is a lock to remain through 2010. I've been defending him in other fora, but lately I'm less inclined to do so.

It seems to me that the Mexican style of play and attitude has hurt El Tri... especially against the US. The fact that the players are arrogant enough to say they don't want a guy like Sven leads me to believe that they may well benefit from a guy like Sven (in the long run)... although it might be short-term chaos.

Jon, I do think barring an unexpected collapse, Bradley is secure, because the window in which to bring in a new coach and have the players adjust to his system is nearly over. Mexico is gambling that Sven can adjust to the Mexican style, get to know the players and improve their tactics, but Mexico is notoriously short on patience for their coaches, both for club and country. The U.S. tends to stick with its choices a lot longer. Sometimes it's too long, in my opinion, but that doesn't change the track record.

Andrea: Yeah, I'd imagine you're right. But it seems to me that if the USSF did want to replace Bradley, after the Barbados games would be the best time to do it. But if they're not searching at least halfway seriously already, I guess that couldn't happen.